


Hold On Loosely

by torigates



Category: Bones (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brennan couldn’t remember ever being this scared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold On Loosely

 

 

"Booth!" she screamed. "Booth, come on!"

Brennan couldn’t remember ever being this scared. Not when Keaton kidnapped her, not when she was buried alive. In both those cases she knew Booth would save her. She knew she’d make it out alive, that Booth would pull through in the end.

This time it had been up to her to pull through for Booth.

Brennan was smart, genius even, but she didn’t solve crimes without Booth. She just didn’t, and she’d been scared that they weren’t going to find Booth in time. That they wouldn’t make it to him in time.

When Booth climbed into that helicopter, Brennan didn’t think. She flung herself at Booth and held on as tight as she could. She’d claimed not to love Booth, but she did. She loved him as a partner and a friend. She loved Booth even if she couldn’t admit it to anyone else. Even if she couldn’t admit it to herself.

After a long moment, they pulled apart. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Booth looked behind them at the sinking ship, and didn’t respond right away. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine, Bones.”

Brennan looked at him, and wondered what he had been through in the last day.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Brennan ran her hands over his arms and shoulders, checking for injuries. “I’m making sure you’re okay,” she told him.

“Bones,” he said taking her hands in his and holding on to them. “I’m fine.”

She didn’t believe him. How could he be fine? He had just been kidnapped and trapped in a ship filled with explosives, of course he wasn’t fine.

The whirring of the propellers filled her ears and head. It was loud in the helicopter. So loud Brennan could barely hear her own thoughts, let alone anything Booth might say to her. She remained silent for the rest of the flight.

Booth didn’t let go of her hands. She clutched his back just as tight.

 

 

When they landed everyone was waiting for them. Angela and Cam immediately ran up to Booth and enveloped him in hugs. Booth wrapped one arm around them looking dazed.

Brennan felt herself pull back from the group. The moment in the helicopter when they had been reunited was still fresh in her mind. She could still felt the rush of relief and emotion overwhelming her the moment Booth climbed in and they embraced. She looked down at her hands and realised they were shaking.

Hodgins, who had hung back while Angela and Cam greeted them, approached Booth. They shook hands and Brennan saw Hodgins smile hesitantly and pat Booth on the back. Suddenly Brennan felt an irrational anger overcome her and her hands shook even more. It was Hodgins fault that Booth had been captured in the first place, and here he was patting him on the back. Hodgins hadn’t wanted to give the gravedigger the evidence. If she had listened to Hodgins they might have never found Booth in time.

Brennan forced herself to take a breath. It wasn’t Hodgins fault that the gravedigger took Booth. She hated the gravedigger—Taffet—just as much as Hodgins did. Hodgins had provided key information that led to Booth’s rescue.

Still, she felt angry.

She looked up and saw Booth and Jared in deep conversation. After a moment Jared held out his hand, and Booth took it. They shook for a moment before Booth pulled him into a hug. She smiled.

“Bones,” Booth called after a moment, and gestured for her to come over. As she approached Booth smiled at her, and Brennan felt another wave of intense emotion overtake her.

She felt angry, at Hodgins, at Taffet, even at herself for taking too long to rescue Booth. She still felt scared and anxious, like at any moment he could disappear again. She looked at Booth, and he seemed to ask if she was alright. She felt happy, relieved, content. It was all too much.

Booth put his arm around her shoulders, and leaned some of his weight against her. He looked down at her and his arm tightened around her.

“You know,” she said. “It’s thanks to Jared that we were able to rescue you.”

Jared shook her head. “Don’t believe her, Seeley. It was all Tempe.”

A strange look crossed Booth’s face, and he seemed to consider his brother for a long moment. Finally, he reached across and clapped his brother on the shoulder. They stood like that for a long moment, before Booth nodded.

“Are you going to get me to the hospital?” Booth asked. “Because standing is becoming a bit difficult here, Bones.”

She smiled at him, his arm still around her shoulders. She put an arm around his waist directing him towards the car.

 

 

The hospital is bright, and Brennan found herself looking down at her lap while she waited for the doctors to come out and pronounce Booth to be fine, just fine.

He needed to stay over night, and when Brennan walked into the room, she couldn’t help but remember a night almost three years ago. Booth visibly bruised from an explosion, lying in a bed just like this one. Somehow, despite his injuries, he never looked small to her.

“You don’t have to stay,” he said.

“I’m staying.”

Booth nodded and looked down.

They were quiet, but Brennan could hear the humming of the medical machines in the background, it reminded her of being in the helicopter, Booth griping her hands tightly. The noise from the hallway spilled in through the closed door.

“Were you scared?” she asked.

Booth nodded.

“Me too,” she said, and he looked up the trace of a smile of his lips.

“You were?” he asked.

Brennan pressed her palms against her thighs. “Of course I was, Booth. I was terrified.”

Booth nodded again. “I know the feeling.”

Brennan didn’t know what else to say, and they lapsed into silence once again.

“I heard you attacked the suspect.”

Brennan looked at him sharply. “Who told you?” she asked.

Booth shrugged. “Jared.”

“She took you,” Brennan told him. “She took you and she wouldn’t tell us where you were.”

Booth reached across and took her hand. “Good,” he said after a moment smiling. “It’s been a while since you’ve assaulted anyone.”

Brennan shook her head but clutched his hand tighter.

 

 

Booth was discharged the next morning, and Brennan insisted on taking him home.

In the elevator they stood side-by-side, closer than they normally would, shoulders pressed together.

“I read your report,” Brennan said.

Booth nodded but didn’t say anything else. Brennan walked ahead of him towards her car.

“Bones,” he said, but Brennan didn’t turn around. Booth reached out and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop and face him. “I’m okay. You got me back.”

Brennan looked down, and Booth tugged more on her wrist, forcing her to stand toe-to-toe with him. She looked up.

“Everything’s fine now. I’m fine,” he told her.

She nodded and looked away.

“Hey,” he said, releasing her wrist and placing both hands on her shoulders. “It’s over.”

He pulled her close, wrapping both arms around her. Brennan’s hands held onto his waist.

When they pulled apart, Booth slid his hands along her shoulders until they were resting at the base of her neck, and even though Brennan knew what about to happen, she still felt surprised when he leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. His thumbs softly stroked her collar bone, and Brennan sighed, her hands clenching his shirt in her fists.

“Come with me?” he asked when they pulled apart.

“Where?”

“I need to visit an old friend,” he told her.

Brennan nodded. 


End file.
